caffeinated
Mini Bike
I posted this up on the other board, but figured i should post it here as well. I guess I can apply for my CDA here as well.
Since I have a lot of extra time on my hands at the moment (more on why at the end), I figured I would give a ride report from my trip to West VA this past weekend.
Friday 10/15/2010:
We started out at 10am from Bristow, VA which is a south western suburb about 40 miles from Washington DC. My neighbor and his son on his K1300GT, and me on my 2002 Concours headed out through Warrenton VA, up 211 and onto the entrance of Skyline Drive. We stopped on the side of the road and waited for two of my neighbors friends who had come up from Virginia Beach and stayed in Stanton the night before, then rode up Skyline drive that morning. One on a ST1300, and the other on a Harley Ultra Classic.
After introductions, we came down 211 towards Luray Va, and ate lunch at the Brookside restaurant. Continued on through Luray and hit the twisties of the George Washington National forest on 211. I had not really had a chance to run out the Concourse on twisty roads since I upgraded the fork springs the year before, and adding the exhaust sprocket a few months ago. It was a great run up to the top with the BMW leading, me second, the ST1300 next, and the Harley bringing up the rear. He brought up the rear the rest of the trip as well. We pulled into a gravel overlook at the top, and waited for the Harley. Here’s the picture of him in the parking lot.
After helping him get the bike back up and laughing, we took some group shots.
Continued on into Timberville, and then turned onto 259, then 613, and finally 33 for a beautiful ride through the George Washington National Forest into West Virginia. Our final destination and home base for the weekend was the Navy Information Operations Command base in Sugar Grove, WV. On base they have a grouping of cabins that are available for rent to retired or active military. Me being the only civilian of the group had to get a special pass to get onto base, but did not have any issues. Hit the commissary to pick up snacks and beer, and then unloaded the bikes. We had some showers roll in, so decided not to do an evening ride as planned up to Reddish Knob.
Saturday 10/16/2010:
We were up at 5:45am, at the mess hall by 7, and on the bikes by 8:45. Crystal clear and cold when we headed south from Sugar Grove, and got onto 220. This is some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen. A rural narrow no line road along the edge of a valley with mountains on both sides and farms below. It reminds me of the Alps with farm roads snaking through the valleys. Simply amazing, and at 9:30-10am the sun is just cresting the mountains.
We then turned onto 250 at Monterey and headed into the Monongahela National Forest. Hard to describe how beautiful this part of the country is. It just has to be experienced. We then turned on to 28/92 and headed towards Green Bank, WV and stopped at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory which is home to the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the world's largest fully steerable single aperture antenna. http://www.gb.nrao.edu/ We then continued on through Cass, past the Cass railroad, and on up to Snowshoe and had lunch.
At Snowshoe, we turned around and went back to Sugar Grove the way we came. Just before Sugar Grove at about 4pm, we turned off and headed up to Reddish Knob. Reddish Knob is a 4200’ peak on the WV and VA line. The only way from WV to get there is to take forest service roads. So for 13 miles we road gravel and dirt roads up the mountains and ridges to the top, which is a paved parking lot. There used to be a forest service fire tower at the top. That ride really wears you out. My entire body ached, and we were covered with dust and dirt.
Pic at top of Reddish Knob
The ride down from Reddish Knob capped off the day. Instead of going the way we come up, the BMW veered off, and we went on a different and smoother forest road that was compact pine needles. The fun started when we came to the first of three stream crossings. The concourse made it through without any issue other than my lack of confidence that I was going to make it. The Harley, which is a few inches lower, made it through in a huge plume of smoke as the header pipes and exhaust hit the cold water. This capped off a great day of riding.
Sunday 10/17/2010:
We headed out at about the same time as Saturday at 8:45am. The ST and Harley turned off headed back to Virginia Beach. We went on to take the long way home going North in WV up the Sweedlin Valley for about an hour and a half. We then turned off onto route 12 (Howards Lick-River State Park road). This road is a steep mountain road that goes to about 2800’ feet. It weaves through what was to have been a vacation home area, and then eventually goes through the Lost River State Park. We stopped on the side of the road on a gravel pull off to take a break and warm up. That’s when it happened.
The road had a 4-5 inch edge with a gravel median, and there was gravel on the road it’s self. The BMW got its front wheel up the edge, and slowly got the back wheel up and they were off. I started off the grave, the front wheel made it over the edge, and then I gave it too much throttle. The back wheel hit the road edge and jumped hitting some gravel on the road and skidding the bike to the left. It then skidded right, left and the right as it skidded out from under me onto its left side. Stupid mistake!!
I found myself on the ground with excruciating pain in my leg. I had felt this before, and as I straightened my leg, I felt the knee cap slide back into position. I was able to get my helmet off and turn the bike power off. There was fuel leaking out of the gas cap. The bike was on its left side on the hill in the middle of the road. Luckily a guy in a pickup came by, and helped me get the bike back up. My neighbor came back after waiting further up the road, and he was able to get the bike started and going in the correct direction. The left bag was off and the antler was broken off in two places. The bag has a bunch of crack, but held the bike up enough so the left peg did not break off. The light bar in the front saved the front faring from any damage.
I bungeed the bag onto the back seat, pulled myself together and got back on the bike. My leg was killing me, along with my heal that must have gotten caught under the bike. We went straight home on the highways from there, but it still took over an hour.
So, after going to the doctor’s I am now on bed rest for three days while they hope to get the swelling down.
Forgot to add that we took a lot of video from the camera the BMW had mounted on its front fender. The footage was great, and we are trying to export the video to another format. I'll post that when available.
Thanks, and if you've read this far, I commend you.
Since I have a lot of extra time on my hands at the moment (more on why at the end), I figured I would give a ride report from my trip to West VA this past weekend.
Friday 10/15/2010:
We started out at 10am from Bristow, VA which is a south western suburb about 40 miles from Washington DC. My neighbor and his son on his K1300GT, and me on my 2002 Concours headed out through Warrenton VA, up 211 and onto the entrance of Skyline Drive. We stopped on the side of the road and waited for two of my neighbors friends who had come up from Virginia Beach and stayed in Stanton the night before, then rode up Skyline drive that morning. One on a ST1300, and the other on a Harley Ultra Classic.
After introductions, we came down 211 towards Luray Va, and ate lunch at the Brookside restaurant. Continued on through Luray and hit the twisties of the George Washington National forest on 211. I had not really had a chance to run out the Concourse on twisty roads since I upgraded the fork springs the year before, and adding the exhaust sprocket a few months ago. It was a great run up to the top with the BMW leading, me second, the ST1300 next, and the Harley bringing up the rear. He brought up the rear the rest of the trip as well. We pulled into a gravel overlook at the top, and waited for the Harley. Here’s the picture of him in the parking lot.
After helping him get the bike back up and laughing, we took some group shots.
Continued on into Timberville, and then turned onto 259, then 613, and finally 33 for a beautiful ride through the George Washington National Forest into West Virginia. Our final destination and home base for the weekend was the Navy Information Operations Command base in Sugar Grove, WV. On base they have a grouping of cabins that are available for rent to retired or active military. Me being the only civilian of the group had to get a special pass to get onto base, but did not have any issues. Hit the commissary to pick up snacks and beer, and then unloaded the bikes. We had some showers roll in, so decided not to do an evening ride as planned up to Reddish Knob.
Saturday 10/16/2010:
We were up at 5:45am, at the mess hall by 7, and on the bikes by 8:45. Crystal clear and cold when we headed south from Sugar Grove, and got onto 220. This is some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen. A rural narrow no line road along the edge of a valley with mountains on both sides and farms below. It reminds me of the Alps with farm roads snaking through the valleys. Simply amazing, and at 9:30-10am the sun is just cresting the mountains.
We then turned onto 250 at Monterey and headed into the Monongahela National Forest. Hard to describe how beautiful this part of the country is. It just has to be experienced. We then turned on to 28/92 and headed towards Green Bank, WV and stopped at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory which is home to the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the world's largest fully steerable single aperture antenna. http://www.gb.nrao.edu/ We then continued on through Cass, past the Cass railroad, and on up to Snowshoe and had lunch.
At Snowshoe, we turned around and went back to Sugar Grove the way we came. Just before Sugar Grove at about 4pm, we turned off and headed up to Reddish Knob. Reddish Knob is a 4200’ peak on the WV and VA line. The only way from WV to get there is to take forest service roads. So for 13 miles we road gravel and dirt roads up the mountains and ridges to the top, which is a paved parking lot. There used to be a forest service fire tower at the top. That ride really wears you out. My entire body ached, and we were covered with dust and dirt.
Pic at top of Reddish Knob
The ride down from Reddish Knob capped off the day. Instead of going the way we come up, the BMW veered off, and we went on a different and smoother forest road that was compact pine needles. The fun started when we came to the first of three stream crossings. The concourse made it through without any issue other than my lack of confidence that I was going to make it. The Harley, which is a few inches lower, made it through in a huge plume of smoke as the header pipes and exhaust hit the cold water. This capped off a great day of riding.
Sunday 10/17/2010:
We headed out at about the same time as Saturday at 8:45am. The ST and Harley turned off headed back to Virginia Beach. We went on to take the long way home going North in WV up the Sweedlin Valley for about an hour and a half. We then turned off onto route 12 (Howards Lick-River State Park road). This road is a steep mountain road that goes to about 2800’ feet. It weaves through what was to have been a vacation home area, and then eventually goes through the Lost River State Park. We stopped on the side of the road on a gravel pull off to take a break and warm up. That’s when it happened.
The road had a 4-5 inch edge with a gravel median, and there was gravel on the road it’s self. The BMW got its front wheel up the edge, and slowly got the back wheel up and they were off. I started off the grave, the front wheel made it over the edge, and then I gave it too much throttle. The back wheel hit the road edge and jumped hitting some gravel on the road and skidding the bike to the left. It then skidded right, left and the right as it skidded out from under me onto its left side. Stupid mistake!!
I found myself on the ground with excruciating pain in my leg. I had felt this before, and as I straightened my leg, I felt the knee cap slide back into position. I was able to get my helmet off and turn the bike power off. There was fuel leaking out of the gas cap. The bike was on its left side on the hill in the middle of the road. Luckily a guy in a pickup came by, and helped me get the bike back up. My neighbor came back after waiting further up the road, and he was able to get the bike started and going in the correct direction. The left bag was off and the antler was broken off in two places. The bag has a bunch of crack, but held the bike up enough so the left peg did not break off. The light bar in the front saved the front faring from any damage.
I bungeed the bag onto the back seat, pulled myself together and got back on the bike. My leg was killing me, along with my heal that must have gotten caught under the bike. We went straight home on the highways from there, but it still took over an hour.
So, after going to the doctor’s I am now on bed rest for three days while they hope to get the swelling down.
Forgot to add that we took a lot of video from the camera the BMW had mounted on its front fender. The footage was great, and we are trying to export the video to another format. I'll post that when available.
Thanks, and if you've read this far, I commend you.
